Brady: Casserly report 'certainly not' true

Tue, 10/12/2010 - 6:10am — Rob Bradford

During his weekly appearance with the Dennis & Callahan Show, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said the report by CBS NFL analyst Charley Casserly that the QB had a heated confrontation with Randy Moss prior to the trade of the wide receiver wasn't accurate.

"No, certainly not. I don't know why these things come about, but they do. I think it's just a competitive media culture out there now," said Brady. "I love [Moss] as a person, as a player. I don't think I've ever had an altercation with a teammate. I think you command a certain level of respect in the locker room. I think that's the culture of our team. I don't think I've ever seen any players in our locker room fight. That's just not the way it is."

Brady later continued, attempting to move on from the conversation regarding Moss, "He's moved on. He played for another team last night. And we've moved on. We had two practices last week and we're prepared to move on as we always have. And that doesn't diminish anything that he's done or has accomplished for our team, because he's obviously an exceptional player. But we've got a season to play. Really, what happened last week in my mind has come and gone. We've got to prepare for our toughest test of the season coming up [against Baltimore]."

Brady explained that he was not consulted when the Patriots traded Moss to Minnesota, saying, "Certainly not. I'm a player on this team, just like all the other players."

The quarterback, who said he watched the first quarter of the Jets victory over Moss' Vikings Monday night, wouldn't divulge what he wrote in the text message the wide receiver mentioned after his new team's loss, only commenting, "That's between he and I. Like I said, he's something special. He certainly will be missed, but we've go to move on."

Brady said he couldn't give specific examples how the offense might change without Moss, but insisted that the Patriots will still take their fair share of shots down the field.

"I still think we have a lot of confidence that we can move the football ... I think we still have some explosive players in the passing game, I don't think there's any doubt about that." he explained.

Brady -- who said he never had a conversation with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick about potentially acquiring wideout Deion Branch -- later went on to say, "I don't think we've ever been gun-shy about taking shots down the field … It's not like we're going to throw three-yard passes all day. That's not our offense."

As for how much work Branch had cut out for him prior to the Patriots' game against the Ravens Sunday, Brady commented, "I'm not sure how much Deion has retained over the years. Deion is a very smart player. He is going to certainly have his work cut out for him. I would say things aren't exactly the way they were when he left ... I'm sure there will be a pretty steep learning curve for him."

Regarding the Patriots' next opponent, Baltimore, Brady called the Ravens' victory over the Pats in the playoff game last season as "probably the worst beating we've had in a long time." But he then defended New England's chances, pointing out, "If you guys don't think we can do any better than that, then maybe you guys shouldn't watch. I certainly think we can do better."

Links:[1] http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports/newengland/football/patriots/2010/10/12/transcript-of-tom-brady-interview-with-dc/
[2] http://That was probable the worst beating we've had in a long time If you guys don't think we can do any better than that than maybe you guys shouldn't watch. I certainly think we can do better.